


Stilettos and Lace

by Nithanghell



Series: Stilettos and Lace [2]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Escorts, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Byleth doesn’t have a lot of money, Desperate Byleth but not for long because Edelgard exists, Escort Service, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, I have no idea how to tag, Jeralt is in hospital, Mistaken Identity, More tags to be added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:34:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22679551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nithanghell/pseuds/Nithanghell
Summary: With the sudden illness of her father, Byleth struggles to pay the piling medical bills, rent and a ticket back home. Stuck in a foreign country, she needs some quick cash. Except now she's stuck in a vicious cycle of debt and regret.Perhaps there's an end to all the pain when a crimson flower walks into her life?(Can be read without the prologue, also the prologue is darker)
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg & My Unit | Byleth, Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Series: Stilettos and Lace [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1540864
Comments: 12
Kudos: 89





	Stilettos and Lace

**Author's Note:**

> I’ll add more tags later, it’s been a long time since I’ve used this so I’m not entirely sure I’ve done this right.
> 
> I’ve been writing this since October and I’m honestly glad to get it off my chest.

Her head throbbed horribly as she leant against the glass. Regret was not enough to summarise the events of yesterday. She sighed heavily, breath fogging against the cloudy panes. Once, she had been fascinated by the strange world she had flown to. It was everything as lively and pretty as the pictures had portrayed, excluding the fact that they neglected to include the dark underworld of the city. Once, she had been fascinated by the never ending high streets and various different cultures that mingled within its polished walls. Now it felt more like a prison and its people a market to exploit.

She wanted to love this city. She had once, but the flow of time was clearly not feeling merciful. The sharp pangs against her skull kept her awake as her head bounced against the car window. Hopefully the lack of sleep wouldn’t be immediately obvious to her mysterious benefactor. 

Silently, Byleth swore to herself never to accept that much alcohol from another client again. If not for the sake of her liver but for the sake of keeping her appearance aliveody...her business; which was something she was not feeling right now.

Thankfully the taxi driver did not bother with the usual meaningless chatter, she’d have plenty of time for that later. 

From the way his texts was formatted she estimated that he’d be over 30 years old at least, possibly greying hairs and certainly one for business suits. These types were quite common in this city. Others bored with that their wife had to offer or lack thereof. Those she was less willing to involve herself with...on the good days. He couldn’t be ancient otherwise the text would have looked like an email. Byleth hoped this guy would be interesting but realistically it was probably another soirée evening of acting smug, snooty and everything else she wasn’t.

Mittle’s cafe was something she would have never found by herself. Tucked along the odd corner, at the end of the high street. The faint smell of croissants carried along on a wave of freshly ground coffee embraced her first. Vines and tiny red buds decorated the outside, contrasting the latte coloured walls. The soft lull of chatter in the background distracted her as she wove between the chairs and tables, careful to keep a low profile. Her heels clacked softly against the pavement unlike her heart, which seemed to want to explode from her chest. Pushing the glass door, she resumed her forced smile, the patrons ignoring her thankfully. They all seemed far too concerned with talking to their sweethearts and sipping mocha. Byleth stole her eyes away from the scene; it was time to focus. The young woman sighed, venturing forth. The counters shone despite the employees that rushed around, every cup sloshing and frothing, all with a bright smile and cheery “hello’s.” Giving them a polite nod, she found her curious target.

He was more obvious then she realised. The man was darkness personified. It was as if brought a dark cloud to the cafe. Said cloud seemed to dim the corner he had hidden himself in. The other customers seemed to sense something similar as they gave him a wide berth. In fact no one sat near him. Uncharacteristically he sat in a plush seat against the wall, which only seemed to sink with despair rather than due to his skinny frame. The bright colour contrasted with his long black trench coat which he seemed to have folded in a neat pile beside him. The vase of carnations decorating the tables wanted to lose their colour and flee but nonetheless endured the eerie aura radiating off of the man. His table unlike the others had documents neatly arranged in piles. Rapidly his bony fingers flew across the keys, though they weren’t gnarled and old, it seemed he hadn’t eaten in a while. 

His one golden eye flickered upwards briefly before continuing to stare at his screen. The other eye was hidden under a mass of void coloured locks. Only when she pulled out her hand did he truly seem to consider her presence. There was the briefest of silences before he shook her hand.

“Good afternoon,” gently she smiled hoping he hadn’t noticed her grip on her handbag. Well it was small and compact enough that others would have considered it a fancier wallet. 

  
“Miss… Eisner?” he gave her a quick look over whilst she nodded her head. Though he could probably see the wrinkled state of her white shirt, he spoke nothing about it. His voice was nothing like she had imagined. She would have quirked her brow in interest but there were more important things at hand. He waved his hand at the chair in front of him, of which she took with a nod, placing her wallet beside her within her line of sight. She would make that mistake only once. 

  
“You must be the man who messaged me yesterday.” Her crossed leg bounced in fake amusement. “I hadn’t expected someone so…young.” She balanced a sweet smile across her face, frustratingly his laptop seemed more interesting. Not to be deterred however she traced the edge of its screen delicately. “If I may what kind of party are we going to that makes you want to triple the price of my usual services?” She kept her voice light and airy, no point in voicing her annoyance, not that it was her place to.   
His fingers paused stiffly mid-word against his black keyboard as if she had made an offence by talking. The papers and laptop seemed to be the brightest part of his personality as he peered over at her. It was as if he was trying to read her very soul.   
Byleth was regretting not texting more the previous night. At least through text she would have likely gotten more information. Judging from the enormous piles of paperwork scattered across the two joint tables, there probably wasn’t time for the poor man to find anyone. His natural intimidation didn’t seem to help him in the ladies or mens department either. Perhaps it was one of those family dinners where he wouldn’t want to be pestered about marriage or mayb-.

“There will be a gala held by our close business partners of which I will need you to attend”. He paused looking over her once more, his eye critical. It was an act to make herself conscious of course. Not that she fell for it. 

Despite her rude awakening earlier in the day, alone in a forgotten hotel room, surrounded by discarded bottles and a lone gym sock, she made sure to do up the extra top buttons of the glamourous white shirt. That shirt had been a gift from a different client, who was very into the secretary look. Of course his kink lucked out for Byleth as she didn’t need to buy any pretty shirts for interviews. Though dry cleaning was always a pain but its not as if Byleth was a beginner at the old fashioned art of handwashing. It was of course common sense to appear professional for an interview, especially for clients like tall, dark and brooding who was staring back at her. 

“I understand you have already attended such parties? Tell me whose parties you’ve been to.” It was a clear command, much more than a simple request. 

  
“I’m afraid I’m unable to tell you due to client confidentiality, however I’ve been in enough to understand the grand importance of appearance and manners.” He nodded slowly taking in her words, eyes never leaving hers though his fingers flew like lightning across the keyboard. “I have an array of outfits that you can choose from to suit the occasion alternatively I can wear any outfit you provide…within reason of course.” Byleth added the last part as a formality, she had heard enough horror stories from her friend about the consequences of being too vague. 

His questions continued to be numerous and almost bizarre. Byleth’s mind buzzed as she was quizzed on things that she deemed irrelevant or completely random. Still she kept her calm and friendly façade. After all this particular client would pay her triple her usual escort fee, covering entirely next month’s rent. That and she would be steps closer to helping her father. 

It was sudden unfortunate luck. She knew her father was strong but not strong enough to survive an accident, the piling medical bills only grew higher and she was only buried deeper. It was a miracle that his memories were still intact though the prospects of Jeralt walking again were slim without something like prosthetics. Every day the growing guilt gnawed at her but it kept her going, forced her to work harder and seek risker contracts with stranger benefactors. What was why she was still here now even if the guy did scream ‘would kill you in a heartbeat if you did anything to displease him.’ Not that she was scared of him, Byleth had encountered so much worse.

Hubert, he had introduced himself after a little prodding kept to his line of odd questions.   
“And you Mr Vestra, what do you like to do in your free time?”   
“Tell me, do you have experience with both genders.” He ignored her questions, ignored any attempt to get to know him. Ignored practically every one of Byleth’s questions. She was frustrated to say the least. The entire ordeal felt more like an interrogation then the agreed meet up. A tingle wove through her spine, something was up. Not once did he talk about accompanying her to the party. Was this some sort of set up? The agreed payment was to be set up in his name. 

The heavens seemed to part sensing her growing paranoia, blessing her with the sound of several chimes singing to the winds. Goddess bless that she had accidentally left her sound on and goddess bless someone had called her.   
“Apologies Mr Vestra.” She was slow to her feet as she searched her skirt pocket for the device.   
“Is it urgent?” His tone practically dripped with distain, something she longed to do.   
The escort paled noticing the number, she could only nod as she rushed outside to take the call. What ever Hubert was going to say was lost to the whirs from the coffee makers as Byleth signalled that she’d only be a minute through the glimmering glass. 

The breeze stung against her skin as she rushed away from the clear windows. Now was not the time for anyone to see her reaction to the news especially, Hubert. She shivered against the cold as the wind became harsher. Her finger tapped frantically against the accept button, praying that she wasn’t a second too late. So late that on the other side they’d receive her voice mail and give up. 

  
“Hello,” the desperation seemed to seep into her voice. “This is Byleth.”  
There was a pause on the other end. It wasn’t the wrong number was it? Byleth was sure she had memorised the set of digits like how she kept track of the important details of each client she had. 

“This is Doctor Chavaril, are you Byleth Eisner?”

“Yes.”

  
“Miss Eisner I have some good and bad news for you, you might want to sit down.” Running a hand through her hair and shivering Byleth nodded, though she sheepishly realised the doctor couldn’t see her. 

  
“Is he...alive?” She blurted out, Byleth had promised herself not to ask that question first. The answer would have felt too sudden, knowledge too dangerous to know so soon, and it was something she dreaded the answer to.

  
“He...is recovering slowly but he has made it through surgery without any problems so far.”  
Visibly Byleth exhaled a breath of relief. Safe. Her father was alive. “That’s good,” it was more than that. She could cry in relief, and joy. 

  
“We’’ve managed to remove the remaining shrapnel from his body but there is a problem.”

  
Fuck.

  
“As you are aware your father is quite old which means that the body will heal at a much slower rate. At this point in time it’s too risky to discharge him as it could reopen wounds and with his broken femur I’m afraid he’ll need to stay in hospital for longer than we anticipated.” 

  
The wind felt like cold chills, grabbing at her body as world seemed to stop. She could only anticipate the doctor’s words. “We appreciate that the cost of the last surgery has almost been paid in full however I’m calling to inform you that you will be charged for Mr Eisner’s accommodation within the hospitals as well as the other services provided. This also includes last night’s surgery as well.” The young girl really wished she was back at her apartment instead of milling aimlessly up and down the street. The crowds never sparing her a glance as she did her best to blend in. Instead now that job was extremely hard as she felt a hot tear glide against her pale white cheek.“This is on top of the blood transfusion which is due next week bu-“

  
Byleth gasped sharply, the thin device flew from her hand as she someone knocked into her.   
NO! Her focus was sharply pulled back to her surroundings once more, whoever had bumped into her apologised quickly before disappearing into the crowd. She could never make out the faces, her mind humming in panick. When was the next payment?!  
It was her turn to apologise to the people she rushed by as she scanned the ground for her phone. The full consequence of the situation not fully weighing on her yet. She couldn’t let it weigh her down just yet. Not when she had a client waiting because that was all that mattered alongside knowing just how desperate she should be at getting that paycheck out of Vestra’s hands.

What was he going to say?!

The desolate shards shone against the sun, reflecting on the dulled tarmac. She felt herself slump next to the worn lamppost. Her legs managed to hold her still: the only part of her not panicking at the moment, refusing to let her body clean the painted metal. The breath she held back never escaped as she bit into the side of her cheek. Byleth watched helplessly as a car parked itself right atop her phone. Her phone shattered into a million pieces against the tire as if mocking her. If only she had seen her phone sooner, if only she had thought to check the road, if only the car had stopped a mere seconds sooner, if only anything! 

Blinking rapidly, she felt herself move towards the car, noting that the paint job was likely worth far more than her phone. There would be no point in arguing this time, nothing she could do…

The blinding sun glared at her as the car door was flung open. An elegant heel stepped out and then another. Instead of a grand duchess greeting her, she was met with a girl, a head shorter than her, hair gleaming like ivory piano keys. The interior was like peering into the VIP section of a billionaire’s lounge, not that Byleth had ever had the fortune to visit one. 

“Can I help you?” Lilac irises scanned her curiously. The girl gripped the handle of the door, tense and ready to slip back into the inner sanctum at a moments notice. 

“Sorry,” was all she could offer her. Then, “You parked on my phone.” She pointed towards the immaculate tire behind her petite heels. Her ivory locks swayed softly as she tucked a strand behind her ear, confusion evident briefly before the stranger noticed the crushed glass and cheap plastic peeking back at her. 

“It slipped out of my hand. I wasn’t looking where I was going.” Byleth muttered, following the girl’s stare.

“Apologies.” Although she bowed her head, the authority she maintained still towered over Byleth, who could only sigh quietly in reply.

“If you could tell your driver to reverse your car back a bit, I might be able to convince a repair shop to fix it… please?” She added the last bit as an afterthought, since the upper class were usually quite responsive to pleas of any sort. Avoiding eye contact was usually a good idea as well, although if any of that worked on women, Byleth did not know. 

Time crept by as she felt the stare accumulate. Byleth wasn’t entirely sure what to do, having not talked to anyone but men in a long time– unless her mirror's reflection counted. Perhaps she had offended the stranger somehow? Maybe there was a custom that she hadn’t read about before, but as far as she was aware the culture here didn’t differ that much from her own.

“I sincerely apologise,” She clasped her silk gloves together behind her ruby blazer.The words were meant to be apologetic, yet they felt oddly stiff. “I can replace the model for you Miss…?” The girl continued, lacking the hesitance of any normal person reciting such an offer. 

Byleth felt her eyes widen at the statement. “...Replace?” 

Ok... they’ve never been that responsive to ‘please’. Was she joking?

She nodded slowly with practiced precision, as if she were negotiating a mundane business deal yet with the aura of a military leader.   
  
“It was my car that ran over it, after all, and it seems important to you.” The girl spoke clearly with all the confidence in the world, without a hint of arrogance. 

“Really, it’s ok!” Byleth raised her hands like she had seen in the movies. The leads always seemed to do that when they were surprised and perhaps now it was a good time to use it, as she felt slightly alarmed by the proposition. Normal strangers don’t just offer to do that, right?

“I insist.” Her tone of voice was not to be argued with, though Byleth knew it was nothing malicious. Her eyes were sharp but her smile was like a glimmer in the darkness and there was something else there, dusting across her cheeks. There must be something the stranger wanted out of her, even though logically Byleth knew she could have nothing this woman would ever want.

“I’m… I’m not sure what to say, but thank you.” 

“Edelgard.” There was a pause from those rosy lips.

“Edelgard?” Byleth played the syllables back, getting used to the word. She couldn’t help noticing the way the other’s eyes would dip down every now and again. Quick and yet lingering, inappropriate yet subtle. How interesting...I wouldn’t have pegged her as the type.

“My name,” She clarified, twisting a lock of ivory hair and avoiding eye contact as if trying to distract herself from her somewhat informal outburst and the following silence. Her experession screamed of someone caught doing something she clearly shouldn’t, especially in public.  
Cute. 

“I’m in your debt, my dearest Edelgard.” Byleth couldn’t help but reveal a smile as her words had the intended effect on the now very red heiress, who quickly resembled the same shade as her neatly arranged blazer. 

“I- it’s nothing, really…” The girl continued to fiddled with her angelic hair, smoothing out imaginary locks, and though she was still determined to appear assertive, her voice marched on. “You looked rather distressed without it.”

At this, Byleth was caught off guard. It almost made her blood run cold as she realised that this girl was probably reading her like a book. The way her eyes roamed her body, Byleth had taken that as a compliment at first, but it seemed the small girl had other intentions. She felt the hairs along her arms stand on end. She stood, straight and stiff, as she felt something like dread pool in her chest. Maybe it wasn’t wise to accept gifts from her after all, regardless of the way Edelgard spoke? It just didn’t feel like she was capable of a lie, but how could Byleth know that from a stranger that she had just met? Byleth of all people was familiar with how looks could be deceiving. 

It wasn’t as if she couldn’t feel emotions, though some were far easier to convey. Byleth had hidden them away: the destructive ones, the distracting ones and the depressing ones. They were all under her control, kept locked in a safe within the darkest depths of her mind. Perhaps if things had turned out differently…

“I didn’t mean to hit a nerve.” Byleth jumped as she realised she had left the girl in silence, fidgeting under her blank stare. 

“It’s nothing really, just some urgent phone calls that I need to make… I was just surprised at your offer. Is there any way I could repay you?” 

“You don’t have to, I was the cause of your broken phone after all.” Her silken hair danced as Edelgard shook her head softly. “Though…” she paused.

“Hm?” Byleth tilted her head, anticipating her next words. Byleth watched Edelgard delicately hold her chin between her snow silk gloves, a delicate finger absent minded lay creating swirls against the rose red of her lips. This caused Byleth to bite her lip in response, waiting in anticipation for the little heiress. Wait, she shouldn’t be staring like that.

“I suppose...” Edelgard closed the car door with a flick of her wrist. “Do you happen to know the direction to Mittel’s Cafe? I have a meeting with someone there in a few minutes and I’m not sure where to go. My driver couldn’t find a parking space near there, which is how we arrived here.”

Fuck.

“I have a meeting there as well.” Panic coursed through her veins, though hopefully it wasn’t carried along in her voice. The linear nature of time caught up with her as she realised that Hubert still existed. “I can take you there if you’d like? I, er… also happen to have a meeting there…” That I should probably get back to before he decides to execute me. 

The walk back was brisk. Though not short in the slightest. At least, it didn’t feel that way with how Byleth now held her hand. It was soft, her hand, despite the protective layer of silk. Edelgard’s was slightly smaller than her own, it was quite endearing. A small smile glanced out from behind the clouds. It disappeared again under the shrouded sky.  
They weaved through the crowd, delicately but quickly. It was almost effortless with the way the ocean of people parted for them. 

“It looks like it’s about to rain.” Byleth remarked offhandedly. 

“That’s a shame. I was looking forward to the sunlight” Byleth jolted forgetting she wasn’t quite alone. “The weather forecast was so positive today as well. I suppose all plans fall through in the end.” 

“There’s an indoor seating area so even if it does rain your meeting can still go ahead.”

“I hope it gets cancelled, as unlikely as that is.” 

“Why?” Byleth would have never expected such a statement from Edelgard. 

“It’s a task I’ve been avoiding for awhile now but due to certain time restraints it still needs to be done.” She sounded bitter which only reminded Byleth of her own thoughts after every heated night. “Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do-“

“By any means necessary…”

“To accomplish our goals.” It was not quite a smile that graced her lips. Her eyes held a swirl of storm clouds gathering at the implications of the younger girl’s bold words. Nonetheless this was the path that Edelgard had chosen but Byleth found a lighthouse in her empathy though even the most desperate sailors clung to the false promises of a light in a sea of madness.

“Even if it broke you?” A question for herself if anything.

Silence clung heavily, broken by a single “Yes.” Neither looked at each other, afraid to show the cracks across the glass. Byleth could not feel impressed by the other’s words. Not when she herself was broken due to such beliefs. She prayed the young girl would not have to endure anything similar.   
The statement hung in the air as they continued to travel through the crowd. A vortex had spun itself within her mind. Who was Edelgard? 

A storm was brewing as the women entered the cafe. There were less patrons then before and the machines almost seemed to drown out the silence. Byleth caught herself before she could bite her lip.   
“Hopefully I haven’t delayed your meeting by too long.” 

“No no, it wasn’t going too well so I don’t think it’ll matter too much.” A nervous smile followed by the casual shrug of her shoulders. Hopefully Edelgard would buy that. “I always have other interviews that I could go to.” Thankfully her voice hadn’t wavered. She was far too distracted by the feeling of sudden gloom that had swamped her. “Good luck with yours Edelgard.” 

Off she dashed, not waiting to hear a response, cold shivers shook her spine as she made her way back to the man waiting at the back. His eyes grew darker, finger tapping erratically against the table. The sound was only dulled by the clack and echo of her heels. Byleth had delayed him for so long. She wasn’t even entirely sure how much time had past, only that it was long enough for this interview to be a disaster. 

“Mr Vestra, I apologise for the wait.” she bowed her head, unable to meet his gaze. What ever expression he made, she did not need to remember. If her mind memorised every face of distain, she would have lost her nerve many dates ago but she was an Eiser and the sharpest blade of an Eiser was strength, determination and hope. At least she could still find comfort in her father’s words, even if it was just for a second. She missed him. There was an empty silence, that of which was only filled by the monotonous echo of someone tapping. Was this his intimidation tactic?   
As meekly as she could muster Byleth took a quick peek of the man’s expression. He seemed stunned for some reason...she hadn’t said anything aloud had she?

“Hubert,” A cold icy voice stated behind her. It was as if autumn had never existed and summer had skipped straight into winter. Her hands almost trembled from the imaginary chill. “Is...this the woman you were talking about the other night?” Confused, she turned only to meet with turbulent violet eyes, they contained a frozen storm of emotion threatening to tear the cafe apart.

“Edelgard…?” She trailed off. The young girl seemed to possess the ability to stop time completely. Byleth could not unravel herself from the gaze boring deep within her. The vivid red less alluring and resembling more of a deadly trap, like the setup of the inner networks of a Venus flytrap. “This is my interview...what?”

A glare was hurled towards Hubert who didn’t even seem to want to dodge it, he took the brunt of Edelgard’s assault. Byleth didn’t need to turn back in her chair to know that he had most likely withered away. The tension was needlessly thick and Byleth was still trying to wrap her mind around the entire situation. Then there was Byleth, she wasn’t exactly sure what she had done but nonetheless endured the cold sharp icicles digging into her as every second pass underneath the glare of the calmly enraged Edelgard.

First these two obviously knew each other. Had Hubert lied to Edelgard about the interview times? She could understand why someone as busy as Edelgard would be upset. Words weren’t spoken and yet it got the message across very clearly. Edelgard was wearing the pants in this relationship and Hubert this time had metaphorically snatched the rug beneath her.   
Perhaps this was something Hubert was looking forward to more so than Edelgard. Though she wasn’t entirely sure why. Working out their relationship was the biggest priority here. Were they...dating? Arranged marriages weren’t all that uncommon in Adrestia especially if they were to secured money and power. These two especially seemed quite distant from each other despite their familiarity. It wasn’t unheard of for an unhappy couple to sometimes hire...

And then it dawned on her. Edelgard’s uncomfortableness, Hubert’s strange and varied questions and the way that they were close to the other. This tense silence and unspoken argument as she watched the non-verbal argument break out.

Her words startled them as if they had finally remembered her presence. “If this is what I think it is can I just state that I’m not comfortable with a public threesome

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading! This was a wild ride to finish haha.


End file.
